The Minor Poems of Joseph Beaumont ... Edited from the autograph manuscript with introduction and notes by Eloise Robinson |
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The Bankrupt
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 | The Minor Poems of Joseph Beaumont |  |
422
The Bankrupt
May 29.
1
Despise him not, though heA Bankrupt be:
To peeces broke he is indeed,
Yet not to nothing. Do not tread
Those fragments into dust, with which
He hopes a Composition to reach.
2
Thy Break is greater farrThan his, nor are
Thy means sufficient to Compound
With thy great Creditor: look round
About thy Nothing now, & say
What thou hast left thy debts to God to pay.
3
Wouldst thou thy Body yeildTo prison? build
No hopes on that sad plott; alas
The law on thee must further pass:
Thy Soul is allso forfeit, and
Th' eternal Jayl for both doth open stand.
423
4
Cheat not thyself, nor sayI'l run away.
What world from Gods arrest can hide
His vainly-fugitive Worm? beside,
No friend on earth can ever be
A Surety or sufficient Bayl for thee.
5
No way away to runHast thou but one:
FORGIVING'S thy sole way to woo
Thy Creditor the like to do.
Nay He'l outdo thee heer, for He
For pardning part, will all remitt to thee.
| The Minor Poems of Joseph Beaumont | |